Last week the New Designers team were lucky enough to jet out to sunny Italy and enjoy the hustle, bustle, creativity and new thinking of Milan Design Week.
With less than 48 hours on the ground, we were on a mission to make our way around as many showrooms, exhibitions, parties and pop-ups as physically possible.
Having checked in at apartment on Via Vetere, in the centre of town just 10 mins walk from gothic Duomo cathedral, we hit the ground running and headed straight out to DAMNº magazine’s opening party for ‘A Matter of Perception: Tradition + Technology’.
The venue for the evening was the beautiful 17th century Palazzo Litta, situated in the 5vie design district near the centre of the city. After entering a courtyard featuring a specially commissioned pavilion structure we explored the main exhibition. This was housed inside several grand Baroque rooms – creating an interesting juxtaposition of contemporary and modern design against a backdrop of sophisticated curves and ornate décor typical of mid 1600 architecture.
The exhibition was all about collaboration and unusual modes of display, with designers and artists commissioned by manufacturers to encourage guests to playfully engage with new products and materials.
Some of our highlights:
Above – amazing new ‘Erased Heritage’ collection rugs by Jan Kath there were garnering a lot of interest from buyers.
Right – Lanzavecchia + Wai’s latest Southeast Asian collection ‘PLAYPlay’ including this gorgeous ping pong table that we wish we owned (image reposted from blog.journeyeast.com)
Above – ‘Sundial’ by Maarten de Ceulaer and 3D printed porcupine light by Ilkka Suppanen.
Right – ‘Physix’ chair installation by Alberto Meda for Vitra (image taken from @damn_magazine’s Insta)
After an obligatory first night pizza on a cobbled street, we decided to head for a ‘Cocktail with a View’ at designboom‘s rooftop party at the exclusive Excelsior Hotel Gallia, part of The Luxury Collection. Lots of beautiful people, a fabulous view and plenty of cocktails (and best of all, gratis!).
We then finished off the night at the infamous late night drinking ‘institution’ Bar Basso where New Designers 2016 media partner dezeen.com were hosting a late night party. Here Lee Broom‘s latest venture ‘Salone del Automobile’– a van and mobile presentation space showing off his new 1990s-inspired lighting collection – drew huge crowds until the early hours.
What a first day!
Later in the week we’ll be reporting our highlights from the main Salone del Mobile, Tortona district and Ventura Lambrate.